Goslar's Christmas Market

On Saturday, the 29th, we hopped the train to Goslar in the Harz Mountains to visit their Christmas Market. Being the last weekend for the Christmas Market, we thought that before we lost the chance, it might be fun to visit another market to compare with our own. We are so thankful that we went as it had its own unique flair and gave us another city to experience. We ate a picnic lunch on the train and made it home before dinner so it was a quick afternoon.

As is typical, there are lots of little stalls set up throughout the city center
selling just about anything you can imagine. This particular booth had
roasted almonds among other things.

One of the things we really liked about Goslar's market is that they attached
pine branches to the stalls so that everywhere you looked, you would see green.

This was the coolest part of Goslar's market! They brought in about 20-30
tall pine trees and created a forest of sorts. The trees must have been secured
underneath a platform covered with mulch. Göttingen had something
similar only with just a few trees so it didn't feel like a forest at all. This area
really felt like you were walking into Narnia! It was located by several booths
selling Gluhwein, a hot drink served only at Christmas. Each tree had a small
circular table about waist high so that you could set your drink while
visiting with friends.

~ A cool old door/arch we saw as we walked through the city ~

~ Tracy taking a picture of the Lions Club booth ~
This booth is done up right with all of the greens! Jason Panciera - this
photo was taken for you just in case you wondered if they are in Germany.

We thought this was a cool place where the buildings
ended up touching at the top....quite a bit of shifting
through the years!

Nativities are a part of life here. We have been struck by the willingness
and openness of the German people to discuss matters of religion. It is not
a taboo subject here like it is in the states.

The boys are petting the various animals at the petting zoo by the nativity.

~ Noah and Josiah ~

You can barely see the lights in this photo, but they are strung from
building to building all over the market. This string of lights reads:
Weihnachtsmarkt Goslar.

I loved how each booth was just covered with greens! This one even had
little white lights throughout the greens.

We stopped at one point in the afternoon for ice-cream. Yes, ice-cream!
Though it was quite a chilly day, all of the boys wanted to have ice-cream.
So we found a cute little shop and found a spot on the second floor to seat
us all. This photo was taken from that shop - this is looking over the center
of the market. We were surprised to find greens on all of the booth roofs, too!

Germany hasn't outlawed smoking in restaurants so notice that we had ash
trays on the tables! It's been an adjustment for us to get used to smoke while
eating. In fact, the whole time we enjoyed our ice-cream, there was a table
right beside us with three chain smokers. Lovely.

When you purchase a hot drink at a market, it is served
in a glass that you have the option of buying. We opted
to purchase this one as a keepsake of our outing to Goslar.

~ Enjoying our special treats! ~

We missed seeing the Glockenspiel in Salzburg on our day there so were
excited to see that Goslar had one as well. We were still in the ice-cream cafe
so were easily able to see it all. Goslar has salt mines so the some of the
characters in the Glockenspiel were workers in the mines.

~ A tunnel of greens and white lights leading to
another part of the Weihnachtsmarkt ~

~ Joel standing near part of the original city wall ~

The boys are checking out a set of stairs that lead to the top of the wall.

~ Part of the original city wall ~